5 German castle hotels where you can sleep like a king

Burg Rabenstein
There's no shortage of castles in Germany. Customs houses and fortresses known as Burg line the riverbanks and crown nearly every hilltop.

Scattered throughout the countryside are the more ornate homes of landed gentry and archbishops, or Schloss. While gorgeous to look at from the outside, many castles also are unique overnight lodgings.

Here are 10 of our favorite places to sleep like a king or queen in Germany — places you can afford even if you're not royalty.

Burg Hotel Hornberg

In the Neckar Valley, this charming castle is a former home to knights, and their portraits and armor provide nice aesthetic touches throughout. Located amid sloping vineyards, the hotel couldn't be in a more romantic location. A panoramic view overlooking the Neckar Valley makes for an awesome dinner backdrop. The rooms are comfortable and the exterior authentic.

Burg Rabenstein

Burg Rabenstein

In the Neckar Valley, this charming castle is a former home to knights, and their portraits and armor provide nice aesthetic touches throughout. Located amid sloping vineyards, the hotel couldn't be in a more romantic location. A panoramic view overlooking the Neckar Valley makes for an awesome dinner backdrop. The rooms are comfortable and the exterior authentic.

Schlosshotel Münchhausen

Schlosshotel Munchhausen

Set in the countryside just an hour's drive from Hanover, the estate near Munchhausen was seen on televisions around the world when President Obama visited in 2015. More than 440 years old, the castle has been renovated several times, creating large, modern rooms of a five-star standard. Recall the medieval days in the knight's hall where you can take afternoon tea while seated beside a roaring fire. Stroll through acres of English gardens or swim in the pool overlooking the moat before dining in the Michelin-starred restaurant.

Schloss Steinburg

Walter Schiesswohl, Eydos

This gorgeous palace in the heart of Würzburg draws tourists year round, so it's the perfect city to live like royalty. Set atop the vineyards that make the Franken wine unique to the region, Schloss Steinburg comprises three buildings with its main "Dreamy Castle" constructed atop monastery ruins just a bit over a century ago. A spa inside the hotel has panoramic views of the city, and rooms renovated in 2005 combine modernity amenities with original details from 1898.

Dornroeschenschloss Sababurg (Sleeping Beauty's Castle)

Günther Koseck

The Fairy Tale Road is filled with the ruins of old castles and stone manor houses that are a testament to the grandiosity of the area where the Grimm Brothers once lived. The brothers put to paper many of the tales spun by local women, enhancing them with descriptions of some of the local castles in the surroundings, including this limestone abode in the countryside near Sababurg, named today after Sleeping Beauty. In tracing the route of the Grimms, historians have concluded that the turrets in this 400-year-old castle were where Aurora was said to be imprisoned, and the owners have taken pains to bring that legend to life here by including a weekly play of the fairy tale and a path tracing the story's steps around castle grounds. After a fire in the main building left the large dining halls empty, the hotel was reconstructed in the towers, with many of the rooms recently renovated to modern standards, including whirlpool baths. Dinner on the terrace overlooks a local animal park where deer and bison graze.